Milaneh Boutros
Above: Milaneh Boutros. Photograph by Philip Reynaers.
We were at home that Thursday. There was shelling, and we went into the shelter. The place was packed with men, women, and children.
A little later, someone from, I believe, the Rashidiya camp came to take his family. Mohammed Shamas’ brother also came and suggested that he leave. But Mohammed refused and we stayed in the shelter. I picked up my 2-year-old daughter and went out. I saw armed men and Israeli soldiers calling for people.
I went out first, thinking that they were there to protect us. I said to one of them, “You’re here to protect us.” He said, “Shut up!” and started insulting and swearing. “Shut up! Are you pretending to be Lebanese now?” I told him that I was from Zghorta and that my [husband] was Lebanese. He took us away. I was carrying one of my daughters, another one was holding my hand, and the other children were clinging to my clothes. We stepped over the corpses. The area was light as day because of the illumination flares. When we got to the Kuwaiti embassy, they took Ali, my husband’s nephew, and they loaded us into trucks. We headed towards Dora and then Bikfayya. There, a woman stood on a balcony and said, “you’re bringing me women; I want men.” With us was a small boy of 13, Ali Zayyoun, who was cowering in a corner of the bus. As soon as they saw him, they took him and killed him. Then they took us to Ouzai. The next day they asked us to go back to our houses. There were Israeli patrols and Phalangist blockades everywhere. The ground was littered with corpses. At the door of the shelter I saw my husband, my son and other murdered people. Another corpse had been thrown on top of my son, who had been killed by an axe to his head.
Above: Milaneh Boutros' hands hold an old ID depicting her at the time of the massacres. Photograph by Philip Reynaers.
The above text is an extract from the Complaint lodged in Belgium against Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Amos Yaron and other Israelis and Lebanese responsible for the massacre. The full text of the Complaint can be found in the section of this website titled The Case Against The Accused.
[The Sabra & Shatila Massacres]
Dr. Laurie King-Irani is North American Coordinator of International Campaign for Justice for the Victims of Sabra & Shatila. For media queries, write to coordinator@indictsharon.net. For website queries, write to webmaster@indictsharon.net.
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This page is part of indictsharon.net, the website of the International Campaign for Justice for the Victims of Sabra & Shatila, offering news on the case lodged in Belgium against Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and other Israelis and Lebanese responsible for the massacre, killing, rape and disappearance of civilians that took place in Beirut between 16 and 18 September 1982 in the camps of Sabra and Shatila and the surrounding area.
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